We're Finally Back
by stefansalwaystheone
Summary: Stelena One-Shot. Takes place in the Stelena scene at the beginning of 4x22. She finally has her humanity on and she wants him back. But will it be that easy?


**A/N: Hey everyone! I might be running myself thin by having two stories and a one-shot but, I just can't help it! I get these ideas in my head and I have to get them out before I forget them. But this takes place during the Stelena scene in the beginning of 4x22, and how I wish it would have ended. It's really just fluff, for us Stelena shippers going through a bit of a rough patch with the show right now. So leave your reviews, as always, and I hope you like it!**

**ELENA'S POINT OF VIEW**

"Alright, give me fifty pull-ups." Stefan says to me, trying to change the subject off of my hate for Katherine. But, I am not letting this go. She ruined my life, she took everything from me, and she doesn't get to get away with it. I turn around and jump up onto the wooden beam above my head in Stefan's room and start on my pull-ups. I see him walk in front of me, so I decide to try again.

"You wanted to kill Klaus when _you_ got your emotions back." I tell him, while working on my third or fourth pull-up. Why is it so difficult for him to accept that I want to kill her?

"I know, and I couldn't." He states matter-of-factly as if trying to prove some point to me. He crosses his arms and watches as I pull up and down during my workout. He actually is a good personal trainer, in a way. He knows every exercise to do so you can express what ever you're feeling. And right now, with his arms crossed, his shirt tightens around his biceps, and he looks attractive. _Damn, he looks good- No! Elena, stop it._ I mentally slap myself for the thought even crossing my mind.

"You don't think I can kill Katherine." I say with an accusing tone. I really don't think he doubts me because he knows everything about me. He knows what I am capable of.

"I don't think you really want to." He replies a little bit quieter, leaning forward and using his hands to explain himself. That's always what I have loved about him. He expresses his emotions in so many different ways.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe, I just want to feel the warmth of her chest cavity as I rip out her heart and watch her face as she realizes I took it from her." I tell him, realizing I sound a tad bit crazy. As I finish this sentence, I almost lose my grip on the beam, I fix it but now it looks like I am struggling.

"You need some help there?" He asks me with a certain lightness to his voice. I lose my grip once more and before I can blink he's behind me with his hands on my hips, keeping me up high enough to regain my grip on the beam. I can feel his hands burning through my clothes straight to my flesh. His grip tightens on my hips and I wiggle a little.

"Woah, what's wrong?" He says in a sarcastic tone, as he tightens his hands on my waist again and I try to shake his grip off one more time.

"Stefan, you know I'm ticklish there." I whisper, feeling like all the air in my lungs is gone. But, his touch, I haven't felt it in so long and I miss it so much.

"Oh yeah." He replies with a goofy, but mischievous, grin on his face. And at that, he goes to work on the side of my stomach. Tickling me everywhere and I can't help but burst out in a laugh.

"I am gonna let go, Stefan!" I scream through a laugh, making sure he heard me, so I don't fall on the floor. All this time, he hasn't stopped tickling my sides.

"Go ahead! I'll always be here to catch you." He says to me, and I feel there is an honest truth behind his words. That he will always be there. And the funny thing is, I believe him. So I let go and fall straight into his arms. Using his vampire speed, he put an arm under my knee and the other around my back, with his hand clinging to the slight curve on my side. He is carrying me bridal style. I hop down and turn around saying I am going to take a shower.

"Not so fast, missy!" He yells at me, and then I feel a set of arms wrap around my waist, and of course, they start tickling me again. I immediately crack a smile and sprout a laugh, and I don't feel ashamed to do so.

Now he is in front of me, pushing me back towards the bed and I don't hesitate to fall on it when I feel the backs of my knees hitting the edge. After I fall down on the mattress, he doesn't let up one bit. He just keeps tickling me, and I don't know if I can take it.

"Stefan! Stefan, please, Stefan! Stop, please!" I try to get out through my laughing and my aching cheeks from smiling so much. Then all of a sudden he stops, and is it bad if I say that I miss his touch? He looks up to me and gives me one of his honest smiles.

"But I like seeing you smiling and laughing. It makes me happy." He says to me. That is probably the cutest thing I have ever heard and I swear my heart melts. But then he turns and starts to get off of the bed.

"Wait, where are you going?' I ask him as the smile instantly fades from my face. Who ever said I wanted him to go?

"Downstairs. Why?" He turns around and says to me. He locks his eyes to mine and I just can't pull away. His leaf green eyes are so true and pure that he could persuade anyone into doing anything. And that's what he's doing here. He is _persuading_ me to focus on more feelings than just hate for Katherine.

"I was hoping you could stay, and we could talk. I do want to tell you something." I tell him shyly, while ducking my head, hoping I will feel the weight of him denting the bed in the spot next to me. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I feel him sitting down and I finally look up. Of course, he is smiling at me, and I don't hesitate to return it.

"What do you want to talk about, darling?" He asks me with a husky tone to his voice. My heart skips a beat when he calls me that and I think my smile gets a little wider, somehow.

"Umm, it's just… Uh- you told me to focus on more than one feeling or a different feeling than rage." I quickly get out while shaking my head. I then pull my legs into a criss-cross and give a half-hearted smile, while twirling my fingers together.

"You're right, I did. And what do you think of that?" He replies back to me while pulling one leg closer to his body and stretching the other out as he sets his back against the headboard of his bed, so we are parallel to each other. Then his arm is hanging over one knee and his other is set next to him on the bed.

"Um you might think I'm crazy for saying this, with the way I have been acting lately and stuff but, I want to focus on… Um- I want to focus on, Uh-, love." At this his head shoots up and the smile fades from his face, "My love," I continue, and decide to be bold, I grab his hand and intertwine our finger, "For you." I finally finish and feel like someone sucked all the air out of my lungs and I am left to die. I could hear the hitch in his breathing after I grabbed his hand, and I want to pull away, but I cant. I need to show him I'm serious this time.

"Elena…" He starts, but I don't let him finish. _I'm being bold, right?_ I ask myself. And what I am about to do is probably ridiculous. But I unlock our fingers from each other and grab his face in both of my hands. I slowly inch my face closer to his, giving him time to object to this, pull away and not let our lips touch. But he doesn't, so I start moving a little faster until my lips hover over his. I close my eyes and am about to kiss him when he says something that made the blood in my veins freeze.

"I can't," He whispers, our lips so close I can feel his rubbing against mine as he speaks. My eyes shoot open and I find myself staring right back at his. I remove my hands from his face and back away from him. He coughs and then stands up and moves to the door.

"What do I have to do?" I ask him in a defeated voice. I can feel the tears start to gather in the corners of my eyes, and I really don't want them to spill over but I have a feeling they will.

"I don't understand…" He says in husky voice, trailing off as he looks up and witnesses me in the state I am in. I lick my lips, take in a deep breath, and try to organize the jumble of words that is my brain right now.

"Just, tell me," I fill my lungs with air and I feel my first tear spill over, "Just, tell me that you don't hate me." I release a sob after this finally comes out of my mouth.

"Elena, how could I hate you?" He says walking towards me. I wipe my tears from my face but it doesn't help at all. "But, how could I forgive you? You shattered my heart," He pauses to take a breath and I can see the tears welling up in his eyes, "My heart into a million pieces. You made me think so low of myself, because I thought it was me doing something wrong. After you moved on, I thought everything was my fault." He exclaims with anger clear in his voice. He runs his forefinger and thumb over his eyes and sniffles, clearly thinking of continuing. "And it was my _brother_, Elena. Am I supposed to look past all that?" He says with a finish.

"No, I'm not saying that you should forgive me. I just-" I put my hand on my forehead to collect my thoughts, "I just want a second chance." I say to him.

"I have given you a second chance! And a third, Elena!" He bellows at me, causing my body to flinch away from him. He was telling the truth. I betrayed him two years ago, by allowing myself to get close with Damon. Again a year ago, when he was trying so hard to get back on track, and I kissed Damon. Now after my transition, I have crossed him again, by sleeping with his brother. No wonder he doesn't want to be with me.

"I don't know what to say." I admit defeat and stop trying to prevent the flow of tears down my cheeks.

"Then I guess we're done." He replies and he starts to turn away. I can't let him walk away this time. As he is about to walk out of his door, I open my mouth and words start flowing out, this causes him so stop and look over his shoulder.

"The first day we met, outside of the men's bathroom in the school hallway. I walked out of the door and bumped straight into you. Then I looked up and locked my eyes with yours. I saw how much hurt was in your eyes, maybe you were hurting even more than me. But you know what, I didn't mind being sad anymore. Because when I woke up, every day, I knew that I was going to see you. You made everything better, the breathing, the living, the moving on, it was all easier with you by my side. And you know what? That's exactly what we did together, we made each other happy, we made life worth living. I was dead inside before I met you, Stefan. Then I held your hand for the first time, I kissed your lips, and you brought me to life. My soul finally had something worth fighting for after my parents died. And that was you." I say, looking at him through my tears, more of his back than his actual face. I got up from the bed and walked over to him. I stood a few feet away from where he was planted and racked my brain with things I could say. "Last year, when you were gone for a whole summer. You called me, and even though you didn't say anything, I knew it was you. I told you that I-" But I couldn't continue, because the next thing I knew, he turned around and pressed his lips against mine.

And that was it, all questions answered, all doubts relieved. It was like, after running through a corn maze, for what seemed life forever, you finally made it out and at the end you even got a prize. I feel his tongue part my lips and I let it. I haven't felt his touch in so long and it burns me from the inside out having his lips pressed against mine. I have no clue how long we stay like this, a minute? An hour? It could've been all of eternity and I wouldn't mind. Finally, I feel his lips ease up on the pressure and I can sense his lips turning into a smile while still pressed against mine.

"I am such an idiot." He says through a slight laugh, one hand wrapped around my waist and the other holding onto my neck. I pull him in for one more, quick peck before getting off of my tippy toes. That's what I love about kissing him, how I have to push just a little farther on the tips of my toes for my lips to reach his. I smile while pulling back and grab his hand from my cheek and set it on my chest.

"But you're my idiot." I laugh at him. "You feel my heart beating? You _hear _it beating?" He nods to me. "As the blood pumps through the vessels all I hear is '_Stefan_,'" He cocks an eyebrow in my direction and releases an airy laugh. "You want to know why, because you fill my veins, because you fill my heart, because you take up every cell of my brain and your love courses through every inch of my body." I whisper to him, while pulling his other hand into mine and interlocking our fingers.

"I feel like you're being all poetic," He tells me. "So now it's my turn." I smile at him then move over to the couch where he follows. Then I nod, signaling for him to begin speaking. "Elena Marie Gilbert, I remember the exact moment that I fell in love with you. It was after our first meeting, but on the same day. When you fell in the cemetery, and I saw you, so I came over to make sure you were okay, and you asked me if I was following you." He releases a laugh at the memory. "Then you made that joke about the '_Hitchcock_' movie that was about a bird," He said in air quotes. "But then you flashed that absolutely stunning smile towards me and I couldn't help but return one. After that you laughed, oh goodness, your laugh. It was like… like hearing angels sing a secret song to God, that only He knows. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. And I swear that in that moment, you locked eyes with me, the whole world stopped spinning, my whole world was locked into place. I was looking for one last piece to the Stefan Salvatore Life Puzzle, and I found it. You know what that piece was?" He asks me. I point to myself and he nods as I start to giggle. "And I think, that every time you smile, every time you laugh, every time a single syllable comes out of your mouth, I fall even more in love with you, if that's even possible. I love you, so much. And I just can't help it." He says with a shy smile on his face, showing his perfect teeth. I take his face in my hands and bring his face close to mine and kiss each of his cheeks.

"I love you, too, Stefan. More than you will ever know." I tell him, finally moving my lips to his. Then I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him in for a hug. Tucking my head into the place between his neck and shoulder, I plant one more kiss on his neck before he starts speaking again.

**STEFAN'S POINT OF VIEW**

We somehow made it to the bed after hours of talking. Hours of reminiscing over every memory we have of each other. Some that the other is familiar with and others neither of them knew about.

We move from a sitting position to a lying position. I set my arm out and she puts her head on my shoulder in the little space between my chin and my chest. Then I wrap my arm around her waist and she sets her hand on my stomach, I move my free arm to her hand and intertwine our fingers. This feels so natural, like every curve and dip of her body fits perfectly to the dents and damps of mine.

When I think she is asleep, I hear her take a breath and start speaking, "Stefan, can I ask you something?" She says with hesitation in her voice. I nod and I can tell she feels it because she knows exactly when to start speaking. "I want you to promise me that you will never leave me. Not now, not ever. I want to be with you for as long as eternity might be." She tells me as she pulls her head back just a bit to look up into my eyes. Her big chocolate brown orbs seem to be gleaming with happiness and joy.

"Elena, I promise, for as long as you want me, I will _never_ leave you." I promise as I take my hand from hers and hold up my pinky, this makes her laugh a bit and I will do anything to make her laugh, I am glad this small gesture brought her a little joy. After raising my eyebrows, telling her that I am waiting, she connects her pinky around mine and then kisses my finger. I then bring her finger up to my lips and leave a gentle kiss, sealing our deal.

She sets her head back on my chest in her little space between my chin and shoulder, which she has claimed hers, and grabs my hand back into hers. I consider not saying anything, but then I think it will be best to.

"Elena?" I ask her hesitantly. Drawing circles, with my thumb, on her hand.

"Hmm?" She asks me while closing her eyes and getting ready for bed.

"I'm just really glad you're back." I tell her with complete honesty. She then looks up at me and smiles.

"Me too," She says before pulling my lips in for a small but sweet kiss. Then she sets her head on my chest and finally falls asleep. Before I decide to drift off, I give her a kiss on the top of her head and tell her that I love her once more. Not caring if I over use it. I want her to know it and believe it.

Because if there was only one emotion that I could feel for Elena Gilbert, it would be love.

**A/N: So, I hope you liked it. I tried to put a little drama in there, but I just miss them too much for them to be mad at each other. So, I might be updating my other stories soon, but no promises!**


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